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{
    "id": 111918,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/111918/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 446,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, but the defining feature is that in a parliamentary system, there is a fusion of Parliament and the Executive. Ministers are Members of Parliament and are picked from Parliament. In a presidential system, there is complete separation of powers between the Executive and the Legislature, such as which we want to create. Kenyans have lamented for a long time that any time Parliament wishes to censure the Executive or a member of the Executive, something happens and that attempt fails. It rarely succeeds and the reason is obvious. It is because the Executive dominates Parliament in a parliamentary system. Even today, a whooping 96 of the Members of this House belong the Executive. They are either Ministers or Assistant Ministers. When they want to defeat a censure Motion, all they need is to lobby a few of the Back Benchers. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, a distinguishing mark of a pure presidential system such as obtains in America is that no Member of the Executive sits in the legislative body, the Congress. That is why, today, President Obama had to sweat to get the health plan passed although his party dominates the House. He had to explain himself because the Executive had no foothold in the legislature. Therefore, the greatest check and balance is the total separation of power. The other check and balance is the requirement that all important Executive appointments be approved by the legislature such as is proposed in this Draft Constitution. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is also important to note that in the system that is proposed here, Parliament is not a rubberstamp for the Executive in the Budget approval. According to the proposed Section 22, the Executive will have to present to Parliament a budget two months in advance so that Parliament is able, through a Committee of Parliament, to sit and scrutinize, negotiate with the Executive and ensure that there is equity and that it follows the Constitution. It means that the legislature will no longer be a house of lamentation where we lament about marginalization. It will be incumbent upon the House to ensure that the Budget is properly allocated and that the priorities are right. We shall no longer have to say either the Ministry of Defence or any other Ministry has more money than another critical area. It will be our duty to balance. So, the checks and balances lie in a very strong legislature that balances out with a strong presidency. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is also clear that Kenyans wanted devolution and it has been provided. The devolution provided is in mind a unitary state because this Draft Constitution proposes a unitary state. Therefore, the Senate provided, which the Mover of the Motion called a weak senate, is weak compared to the senate say, in America. America is a purely presidential system but it is also federal. We have opted in this document for a purely presidential system but within a unitary state. Therefore, the design of the senate has been amended to reflect our status as a unitary state. That is why the senate has been restricted to matters concerning the devolved government and their financial allocation and any Bills that impinge on the devolved government."
}